The so-called “Great Commission” cannot even be carried out today. This is the difference:

• Mission = making disciples of nations and teaching commandments
• Evangelism = proclaiming reconciliation to individuals.

Now, one should not jump to the conclusion that both mean “roughly” the same thing after all. After all, they have nothing to do with each other. However, this only becomes apparent when one searches for clear statements in the Bible on both terms, and then places them side by side. In this article we want to look at the central passages and examine what actually is the background and context of the so-called Great Commission.

But first a remark: It is good and necessary to tell people about the grace of God in Christ Jesus. So it is not a question, for example, of presenting the proclamation of a good news as superfluous. Evangelism is a logical consequence of our understanding of God’s grace. The 12 apostles, however, had a very different picture. They have not founded a missionary society and have never been active as missionaries themselves. The Great Commission originally had a very different meaning than what has been made of it today. The Great Commission, as we shall see, is for a future time. Evangelism, however, fits entirely in today’s world.

The Great Commission

The so-called Great Commission is found at the end of the Gospel of Matthew. The scene takes place after the resurrection and before the ascension of Jesus. Jesus and the disciples had already traveled from Jerusalem to Galilee and they meet on a mountain.

“Now the eleven disciples went up into Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had appointed them to go. When they saw Him, they fell down before Him, but some hesitated. Then Jesus came near and talked with them, saying:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

And behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the Aeon.” Amen!”
Mt 28,16-20

This section is used as the basis for the “Mission”. It is a task, a command from Jesus. Mission is a central concern for many churches. However, what is written here and how did the apostles themselves understand the word? Once we interpret the word “mission” as it is done today, these words are taken out of their own context and applied to today’s situation without further examination. Looking at this critically, the following becomes clear: No missionary disciples nations and teaches commandments to entertain. If we look more closely, not even the apostles themselves implemented this. None of the 12 apostles ever acted as “missionaries”. None of the 12 apostles ever did anything outside the land of Israel that is to be understood as a “mission”. More on this in a moment.

What is evangelism?

In the special ministries for the church, Paul mentions evangelists, but not missionaries (Eph. 4:11-12). To his co-worker Timothy, Paul exhorts him to do the work of an evangelist (2 Timothy 4:5). Timothy did not have to proselytize. So in Paul we find nothing of a Great Commission back, and at no point is Paul concerned with “making disciples of nations.”

Mission and evangelism are not interchangeable. They are not used as an explanation for each other, as is often done today. Evangelism has nothing to do with “mission”. Even the drive is different for the two terms. The Great Commission is a task, it is a command. Evangelism, however, is an inner necessity that grows out of the knowledge of experienced grace. Mission and evangelism are different.

ln Second Corinthians, Paul describes evangelism as a “ministry of reconciliation.”

“For the love of Christ urges us, judging this, that if the One died for all, they all died accordingly. And for all He died, that those who live should no longer live to themselves, but to Him who died for them and was raised. Therefore, from now on, we are not acquainted with anyone according to the flesh. Even if we have known Christ according to the flesh, we do not know Him that way anymore. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: the former things passed away, behold, they have become new.

But all this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself: He does not impute their offenses to them and has set down in us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are messengers for Christ, as if God were speaking through us. We plead for Christ: Be reconciled to God! For He who knew not sin made Him to be sin for us, that we might become God’s righteousness in Him.”
2Cor 5:14-21

It is a very different statement here than we just read before in the Gospel of Matthew. Mission and evangelism are not the same thing even by superficial comparison. Missions is about nations, and evangelism is about individuals. If we place the two biblical passages side by side, there are no matching elements.

The mission order was never executed

The amazing thing is that the 11 apostles (or later the 12, but without Paul) never carried out this “Great Commission”. They were never on their way to all nations. They never carried out the command of Jesus! Whether it was Peter, John, or James, none of them were ever missionaries. The question is: Why not?

Only Paul went around the world proclaiming everywhere the good news of the grace of God in Christ Jesus. Why did the 12 never go out? Did Paul fulfill the task for the 12? Did God simply realize that the 12 had messed up their task and therefore sends a 13th apostle who “works more than all the others” (1 Cor. 15:10)? Or is there something else playing here altogether?

Mission and evangelism – as described in Scripture – are different. How can this be understood now? It has to do with the different tasks and target groups of the apostles in each case. The 12 had a different task than Paul. That’s why their messages are slightly different. Of course, this affects our understanding of God’s work in the world today. What is the purpose of the Great Commission? And what the evangelism?

The reinterpretation of the Great Commission

The Great Commission has often been interpreted against the background of the doctrine of heaven and hell. The mission is to save people from hell. So the proclamation aims to save people from God’s judgment. It is frightening how superficial is the understanding of God’s grace, which has saved even ourselves. The proclamation of a threatening message is always in the background for many missionary societies. I have heard many mission societies tell of your work. The work is mostly excellent. The rationale for the work is often informed by ideas about heaven and hell. However, the 12 apostles had never heard of this – at least not in the way it is still interpreted today. The apostles (not including Paul) were commanded to teach commandments to nations and to make those nations “learners,” that is, “disciples.” However, this is different from people “saving from eternal fire”. Or in other words: The biblical command was not only never implemented, but even reinterpreted in its wording and statement. This shows how formative doctrine and tradition are.

In fact, it is probably the case today that mission is practiced more as evangelism. It has nothing to do with whole nations, and it is predominantly not about teaching commandments. Mission today is only fruitful if it is characterized by grace and preached in the sense of an offer of reconciliation (2Cor 5). That’s right.

What task was given in Matthew 28?

If we want to understand what Matthew 28 is about, we cannot blindly project the text to today. We can best apply the rules of inductive Bible study here. In particular, it is about wanting to understand the text in context. So: Who says what to whom, with what words, in what context and with what intention? These questions should lead us to what is actually meant here.

The Kingdom of Heaven

Jesus proclaimed the “Gospel of the Kingdom”, namely the “Kingdom of Heaven“. This was first a Jewish expectation, and accordingly He instructed His disciples at the first mission (within Israel) as follows:

” Do not go into the way of the nations, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans! Rather, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel! Wherever you go, go: The kingdom of heaven has drawn near! – Heal the sick and weak, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons!”
Mt 10,5-8

Do not go to the nations! Jesus had said that earlier. What had happened that later should go to the nations after all? The context of Matthew 28 is not far from the first arrangement. It is merely a little further along in its development. For first Israel was to follow the Messiah and learn from Him. Only in a second step should the nations be invited to do so. Both Matthew 10 and Matthew 28 are about the same outlook: Israel is to accept the kingdom and the king. Then the messianic kingdom will break through and spread throughout the world among all nations.

This idea is perhaps somewhat foreign against the background of Christian traditions. But we may be reminded of what the hearers of that time, and the apostles themselves once understood it to mean. They were Jews, listened to the Messiah and had a very clear expectation from the prophets.

In Isaiah we read, among other things, the following:

“The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz beheld concerning Judah and Jerusalem: And it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall stand firm as the head of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations will flock to him. And many nations shall go and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us by his ways, and that we may walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he will judge between the nations and pronounce justice for many peoples. Then they will forge their swords into plowshares3 and their spears into vine knives. No longer will nation against nation raise the sword, and they will no longer learn war. House of Jacob, come, let us live in the light of the LORD!”
Isa 2:1-5

Similar words are found further on in the book of Isaiah, especially in the last chapters (60-66). It is about the expectation that all nations will be blessed through Israel. Teaching the nations, as Jesus gives the apostles the task of doing, speaks of this time when the kingdom is established and Jesus is not only given “all authority in heaven and on earth”, but also exercises it.

We read about this future time in the book of Revelation, at the seventh trumpet:

“And the seventh messenger sounded the trumpet. There were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingship over the world has been given to our Lord and to His Christ, and He will reign as King for the eons of the eons! Amen!”
Rev 11:15

Then this mission command can also finally be implemented. The context for the Great Commission is then given for the first time. This also explains why the apostles never implemented it. The task is still in the future. It cannot be implemented until Jesus comes again. This has nothing to do with today’s understanding of “mission”. This is not about the church at all, not about evangelism. The concern is to make whole nations learners, disciples. This task was given to the apostles, according to the statements of the prophets and according to the statement of Jesus. From Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. Then the words from Matthew 28 suddenly make sense.

Even though this task was given to the twelve apostles, they will probably not carry it out (entirely) themselves. Jesus had in fact said something else. They will “sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matt. 19:28). Indeed, the task belongs not only to the twelve apostles, but essentially to the whole Jewish people.

Evangelism today

The so-called Great Commission is a preview of the time of the messianic kingdom. That is where this order has its context. There it is executed. But what is valid today?

The Twelve expected that Israel’s obedience and faith would lead to the establishment of the Messianic kingdom. However, something quite different happened. Israel rejected the Messiah several times and God called a 13th apostle, Paul, who proclaimed a grace and access to God without the mediation of Israel. This was a sharp contrast to the Great Commission, wherein Israel as mediator should occur for the nations – a royal priesthood, a holy nationas Peter speaks of it (1Pet 2:9). Peter wrote to the Jews and was entrusted with the gospel of circumcision (Gal 2:7-9).

Today, on the other hand, it is not about whole peoples or nations, but about individuals being called out from all nations to be part of the body of Christ, the present-day congregation and worldwide church. This is the gospel of uncircumcision as Paul had to preach it (Gal 2:7-9). This calling was only possible because of Israel’s disobedience. Their mortification became riches to the world, writes the apostle (Rom 11:12). Today is an exceptional state of God’s grace. It is special. It was a secret in earlier times, yet Paul received it as good news for the nations. Today it is undeservedly ours (Eph 3:1-2).

As nations, we were not only adopted into the family of God, but we were given a mission all our own. We have been entrusted with a good news: be reconciled with God, because He has already been reconciled with you for a long time! (2 Cor. 5:14-21).

One day it will continue with Israel, and likewise with the other nations. So while today individuals are called, there is this greater level where nations are involved. Today, individuals are being called out from both Israel and the rest of the nations. They form the church, the worldwide community, of which we are also a part. Once, however, the circles are drawn wider again, it is again about Israel and about the nations.

For God includes all in unruliness, that He may have mercy on all (Rom 11:32).